Pharma/Fine Chemicals Roundup – January 3

OPKO Health (Miami, FL) says it has completed the acquisition of FineTech Pharmaceutical (Nesher, Israel), a company that develops and produces low volume, high value specialty active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) using its proprietary technology and know-how in complex organic syntheses. OPKO is a multinational biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company.

FineTech possesses proprietary technology and know-how in several important areas of organic synthesis, and the company offers a full range of services from paper chemistry and laboratory scale development to pilot scale and commercial production. FineTech's FDA-registered facility at Nesher, is equipped with laboratory, production and quality control equipment. FineTech's business model has been to develop complex and problematic APIs for sale or license to pharmaceutical companies in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Israel.
“This acquisition is a good strategic fit for OPKO,” says Phillip Frost, chairman and CEO of OPKO. “FineTech's significant know-how and experience with analytical chemistry and organic syntheses, together with its production capabilities, will play a valuable role in the development of OPKO's pipeline of proprietary peptoids and other molecules for diagnostic and therapeutic products, while providing revenues and profits.”
“We expect continued growth of revenues and profits from existing products and those in development. Our ability to develop novel processes for making complex synthetic molecules will make us a very productive and valued contributor to the OPKO business,” says Arie Gutman, president and CEO of FineTech.

CYCLONE AFFECTS SHASUN PLANT IN INDIA

Shasun Pharmaceuticals (Chennai, India), a manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), intermediates, excipients, and formulations, informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (Mumbai) yesterday that operations at the company’s production facility at Cuddalore, India has been suspended since December 30, 2011 due to cyclone ‘Thane’. The company says it is doing the needful to resume operations as early as possible. Shasun has production facilities at four locations in India, and at Dudley, U.K.

TAKEDA TO ACQUIRE INTELLIKINE FOR $310 MILLION

Takeda Pharmaceutical (Osaka), the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan, says it will acquire Intellikine (La Jolla, CA), a privately-held company focused on the discovery and development of innovative, small molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. The transaction is expected to be completed this month. Takeda will acquire Intellikine for $190 million upfront and up to $120 million in additional potential clinical development milestone payments. Intellikine was established in 2007 and it employs 36 people.

ZYDUS CADILA ACQUIRES BIOCHEM

Zydus Cadila (Ahmedabad, India), a manufacturer of formulations, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), intermediates, animal health products and cosmeceuticals, says it has acquired Biochem (Mumbai). Terms were not disclosed. Biochem is a privately-held company with a presence in the antibiotics, cardiovascular, anti-diabetic and oncology segments, and it had sales of Rs2.64 billion ($50 million) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011. The acquisition strengthens Zydus’ operations in the Indian pharma market, the company says. Zydus Cadila has annual sales of about Rs46.3 billion
“The formulations business in India has always been the bulwark of our operations and we have looked at every strategic opportunity to grow and contribute to this market, either by way of novel initiatives, collaborations or acquisitions. Biochem represents the right fit as they have a significant presence in our core therapy areas and also add value to our product offerings in the key growth segments,” says Pankaj Patel, chairman and managing director of Zydus Cadila.